KJS

I also work with Centramax and have since I started doing telephone triage back in 1997. The system is OK, I guess. I haven't ever worked on another program and it beats paper charting!

I have not worked at Lucille Packard, but I have a friend that brought me back one of their t-shirts. BUT I can't believe you are planning to head out there without a signed contract! Also with the travel pay you are getting! I get twice that per mile up to $1000 cap!

It all depends on what you consider your salary. I know that I make in the mid $30's per hour, but only about $13 is taxable. A lot of it is tax free through per-diem, housing allowance, insurance stipend, and so on. My completion bonuses are taxable. So are any loyalty bonuses.

As well as the compact states, there are some states that have a "walk-through" procedure, which means you can get your license to practice in that state in anywhere from 1 to 5 business days. IF all your paperwork is already in order. The states I know of that have walk-throughs are Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia, and Vermont. I have been told the District of Columbia also has a walk-through, but I have never needed it. Hope this helps!

Got it!

I know the agency I work for right now, is always looking for good pediatric nurses, but their requirements are pretty stiff, especially so if you are looking to work in a large city. I know the ER I worked in saw almost 300 children a day in a 22 exam-, 4 holding-room facility. I know they have added beds since I was there in 97. I think the total bed capacity is over 300 now. And that is just a pediatric facility, not a mother/child hospital!

I know when I worked as a Ped ER nurse, I heard it mentioned alot and saw several cases. Once the families were given some reassurance about O-S, I would joke to mothers of teenaged boys that their sons were not "not paying attention," that there was a physical reason that their sons were so clumsy!

Man, Nicmac. It sounds like you got a raw deal all the way around. I travel and have never had to share an apartment. I have another friend that travels with her husband and son and another that travels with her cat. None of that has ever been a problem. The only people I have met from my company that have had roommates are nurses that WANT to room together because they travel together.

I guess I have been very fortunate. The company I have worked with lately actually have nurses in the office that I can call on for support. Granted, I am working as a traveler for them, but they have not assigned me anywhere that I have not had sufficient training to work. They have not even asked me to try to "stretch" my nursing experience. I have had experience in several aspects of nursing and each time I am interested in a different floor, like pediatrics, telemetry, ICU, and so on, they give a new proficiency test to make sure I know what I say I know.

I definitely have to agree with Suzanne about that. I know I would hate to be placed in an area that I was not familiar with. Most (but not all) of my experience is with pediatrics, so I would not feel real comfortable on a rehab unit. You know what I mean?

The few agencies I have dealt with offer little or no advance notice about your work schedule. There have been times I have been called at 0800 and told to be there by 0900! Being given 24-48 hours noticed seems like heaven to me, but like I said, I have been in the "jump and run" situation in the past.

i wish i had known about this message board when i was in home health. your posts would have made my wrestle with oasis so much easier. thanks!

I know the feeling. There was a time I was doing private duty in a home and I woke up during the middle of the night and there was about 3 inches of snow on the ground. Immediately I called the agency to tell them there was no way I could report for duty that morning. I had a 2-wheel drive vehicle and my assignment was about 6 miles down a dirt road on the side of a mountain. Most of the time there was not room for 2 cars to meet on this road. They gave me the sob story about how I was VITAL to the very life of this patient and how he might die if I was not there. Luckily, I had worked for the hospital that this patient had been discharged from and knew that his family had been well trained on how to take care of him at home and had been taking care of him alone, without nurses, until the previous week. To make a long story short, this agency was more interested in their Medicare reimbursement than they were in my safety driving on snow up a dangerous mountainside.

I don't know how "specialized" they are, but I have a friend working as a travel nurse right now. She said she did have to take a proficiency test specific to Corrections Nursing. I guess if they have an area-specific test for Corrections, they must staff prisons fairly often, though.

I have some friends in Shiprock right now for Nationwide Nurses. They really like it there. I do know you have to travel from Farmington into Shiprock because there is not any housing nearby. Farmington is about 30 miles away. I guess it depends on what type of vehicle you have and how fast you drive, how long it takes to get there. Me, it would take about 30 minutes. There are a couple of other IHS facilities out there nearby, also. I guess it depends on what type of work they want you to do, how well you would like it. I know I enjoyed my time out there.

I have to agree with Suzanne. What living allowance are you talking about? I know Nationwide Nurses goes by a perdiem chart that the government puts out that tells them what they are allowed to pay depending on the city the traveling nurse is working in. If the company you are talking with told you they were increasing your perdiem, then they weren't giving you all the perdiem they were allowed to give you to begin with. There is only so much that is allowed by law to be considered nontaxable, no matter what company you work with.

I know I had to fill out a skills checklist and application and all that stuff before I got any information on specific assignments also. I can understand why though. Every agency out there is trying to get the same travel positions. There is a lot of undercutting of hourly rate out there when several agencies know specifics about hospital needs. The nurse is the one who loses out because you know these agencies are always going to make sure they make a profit. That is why I understand they want all this information up front to make sure you are legit and not another agency "spy" trying to find out information about the most desired assignments. If it gets me a higher wage and better benefits, I'm all for letting them know about my education and experience ahead of time. You don't have to agree to an unnamed assignment. Nothing should be set in stone until you and the agency and the hospital agree on assignment dates, pay, department, and shift.

Hello! new to the site, but had to put my 2 cents in here. I have never heard of having to find your own housing! The vast majority of the time, I have had a private, turn-key, apartment (once I had to live in hospital housing. no choice, no other housing around). I like to drive my own car, but some of the other nurses like to fly. One or two have rented cars, but have not had to pay any extra over what the company pays unless they have driven A LOT of extra miles. They provide half of my travel money up front, so I can actually GET to my assignment. Most of the time, I am able to just walk in and cook supper or whatever with the pots and pans provided. Clean sheets, towels and all that. It's great.

I was an LPN before I became an RN and my agency is the same as most of the other companies. I could work as an LPN after I had 2 years experience, but could not travel as an RN until I had 2 years RN experience. The nice thing about mine is the fact that they have LPN positions, as well as RN positions.

If I can find a home position in the field I love, that would be great! I have 8 years experience as a pediatric ER nurse and then 8 years as a pediatric telephone triage nurse. I recently divorced and need to move away from my wonderful in-house telephone triage position. If I can do this from home, WOW! I didn't know it was possible. Our triage office work nights and weekends and contracted with about 150 pediatricians to take their calls. During the winter months, we would average over 200 calls a night. That is from 1800-0700. If anyone knows an "in" on this, please let me know!